A New Covenant

In the most recent general conference, Sister J. Anette Dennis spoke about the importance of the covenants we make. Speaking of the sacrament, she said this: “The ordinance of the sacrament also points to the Savior. The bread and water are symbolic of Christ’s flesh and blood shed for us. The gift of His Atonement is symbolically offered to us each week when a priesthood holder, representing the Savior Himself, offers us the bread and water. As we perform the action of eating and drinking the emblems of His flesh and blood, Christ symbolically becomes a part of us. We again put on Christ as we make a new covenant each week.” That last sentence is not something we typically say, i.e. making a “new” covenant each week with baptism. With it she referenced a teaching by President Nelson that Elder Renlund shared in a footnote to one of his talks: “In the mission leadership seminar in June 2019, after partaking of the sacrament, before beginning his formal message, President Russell M. Nelson said: ‘A thought has occurred to me that my making a covenant today is a lot more important than the message that I have prepared. I made a covenant as I partook of the sacrament that I would be willing to take upon me the name of Jesus Christ and that I am willing to obey His commandments. Often, I hear the expression that we partake of the sacrament to renew covenants made at baptism. While that’s true, it’s much more than that. I’ve made a new covenant. You have made new covenants. … Now in return for which He makes the statement that we will always have His Spirit to be with us. What a blessing!’” I love that idea that when we take of the sacrament, we aren’t just renewing our baptismal covenant, we are making it again. We are promising the Lord as we eat the bread and drink the water that we will always remember the Savior, take His name upon us, and keep His commandments. We know that those who ultimately inherit the celestial kingdom “are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:69). Each week we have the opportunity to make a new covenant with the Savior to follow Him and remember that atonement that He has wrought for us.

                I have sometimes wondered what it would be like if during the partaking of the sacrament each of us stood up (when eating the bread or water) and announced, “I will follow Jesus Christ this week.” It would I believe be a powerful scene to see everyone in the congregation sincerely make that statement out loud. Though the reverence of the ordinance would preclude such a thing, I believe the ultimately it is what we are saying as we do so. It can easily get lost on us that participating in the ordinance means that we are covenanting to remember Him and follow Him that week. We should silently commit to ourselves to strive to do what He would have us do. And so perhaps it should be the same with the other opportunities that we have to remember our other covenants we have made. Each time we attend the temple for one of our ancestors we have the opportunity to remember the covenants we made and essentially commit to continue following them. Sister Dennis also spoke about the temple garment which the wearing of perhaps can also be a “new covenant” each day if we so remember what it means. She said, “There is deep and beautiful symbolic meaning in the garment of the holy priesthood and its relationship to Christ. I believe that my willingness to wear the holy garment becomes my symbol to Him. It is my own personal sign to God, not a sign to others.” As we wear the garment we should remember that we have made promises to God and commit to ourselves that this day we will keep those promises, giving a sign to God by our willingness to put it on.